A Tale of Two Potters
by GryffynGirl12
Summary: When Lily Potter gets chosen by the oldest wand in existence, that's just the beginning. On the Hogwarts Express, she accidentally makes a wish and falls into you-know-where. Rated T cause it's The Lord of the Rings. Give it a chance, people! ON HOLD UNTIL THE END OF JULY.
1. The Oldest Wand in Existence

**A/N: So this is my first crossover! Woo-hoo! :) Anyway, the people that'll be in here will be all the character from LOTR, and the people from Harry Potter will just be Harry and Lily Luna Potter. You may be asking, what about Ginny and Ron and Hermione? Sorry, guys, but that's not in here. This'll usually be in Lily's perspective, but I am including a few chapters with Harry in it. **

**Anyhoo, I do not own The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Please enjoy. **

* * *

"Come on, Dad!" Lily Luna Potter urged. She tugged on Harry Potter's hand, dragging him towards Ollivander's wand shop.

For anyone who was watching, the scene would look very amusing; Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, and the defeater of Lord Voldemort, was being dragged through Diagon Alley by his eleven year old daughter.

"Not so hard, Lily!" Harry said to the excited girl. "You'll dislocate my arm,"

Lily stopped and let go of his hand. Whoops. "Sorry, Dad," she apologized.

Harry smiled at her, then they both headed at a much slower pace to the wand shop.

"Were you excited about getting your wand?" Lily asked. She had always been interested to know what her father had done at her age.

"I was, actually. I remember Hagrid having to drag me away from a book on hexes at Flourish and Blotts," Harry said, smiling fondly at the memory.

"Why'd you want to buy it?" Lily asked, fascinated.

"I was trying to figure out how to curse Dudley,"

Lily looked surprised. "Dudley's fine!"

"He wasn't when we were both eleven."

"Oh."

By this time, they had approached the wand shop, and they both went inside. Harry sat down in the spindly chair, while Lily looked around in uncertainty.

"Hello?" she called out quietly.

There was a rolling noise, then a man appeared on a ladder. He looked down at her, and smiled.

"I wondered when I'd be seeing another one, Miss Potter," he said, climbing down the ladder. He disappeared behind the shelves, still talking to her.

"It seems only yesterday that your father was in here buying his wand. A tricky customer, your father was."

Lily glanced at Harry, who smiled at her. "I hope I'm not a tricky customer," Lily thought.

Mr. Ollivander came back, carrying a wand box. He took out the wand and handed it to her. "Try this. Birch and unicorn hair, ten inches, good for Transfiguration."

But as soon as Lily gripped it, he snatched it away from her. "No, no, not that one,"

He went behind the shelves again, and came back with another box, "Holly and dragon heart string, eleven and a half inches, good for Charm work." only to snatch it away again.

Harry had to get up off the chair to make room for the wands. The pile grew bigger and bigger, until it seemed to Lily as if she had tried every wand in the shop.

"Tricky customer," Mr. Ollivander said. He winked. "Just like your father,"

Then he grew a serious expression, then a thoughtful one. "Hmm... Maybe? No, but still, worth a try..."

He bustled off again. Lily heard rustling, then he came back, carrying a particularly long wand box. The wand he took out was the longest one Lily had seen so far. Although she couldn't see him, Harry was looking at it intently.

"This is just a test, but try this wand. Ash and phoenix feather, fourteen and three-quarter inches, exceptional for dueling. By far the strangest combination ever seen in wandlore." Mr. Ollivander said grimly.

Lily took the wand from him. When she fully gripped it, she felt a sudden warmth go through her fingers. Hesitantly, she waved it. Swish and flick, like her Aunt Hermione had always demonstrated. To her surprise, red sparks flew out of the tip. Mr. Ollivander looked shocked, and when she turned around, she saw Harry looking the same way.

There was silence in the room, that was penetrated by the noise from outside the shop. Ginny, James, and Albus waited patiently outside, wondering what was going on inside.

Finally, Mr. Ollivander spoke. "Curious... curious,"

"What's curious?" Lily dared to ask.

"It is curious, Miss Potter, that you are the wielder of the oldest wand known to all wand makers. This wand is hundreds of years old, forged by British wand makers in the Roman Empire. Forged by the greatest of the time, it has never chosen any wizards that have tried to wield it. Until now."

Lily shuddered at his grim expression, now knowing why Mr. Ollivander had scared her father when he was eleven.

* * *

Lily sat alone in a compartment in the Hogwarts Express. It seemed like hours had passed since the train had left the station, but it had really only been about thirty minutes. She was excited about finally going to Hogwarts. The most important question she was wondering about was: Do ghosts live there, or do they leave the castle for their graves at night? She supposed she could ask Nearly Headless Nick about it, or the Grey Lady, or even the Fat Friar when she got there. There was no way she was going to ask the Bloody Baron. From James and Al's descriptions of him, he seemed very scary.

James had ditched her and Albus on the spot, going off to sit with his friends in another compartment. Albus had sat with her for a while, but he was soon pulled away by his friends from Gyffindor, leaving Lily alone.

Absentmindedly, Lily stared out the window at the towns and villages they were passing. Then she reached up, pulled down her truck, and took out her wand.

She fiddled with it absentmindedly, but not enough so that she would do any magic. Her mind drifted back to about a week ago, when Ollivander had told her about the wand's origins. She had believed it, of course, but part of her thought that Ollivander wasn't telling the truth.

"I wonder why I was chosen to wield it?" she wondered aloud.

Hours passed. Lily snapped out of her trance once, to get some snacks from the candy trolley. She had gotten two packets of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, a couple Licorice Wands, and a pumpkin pasty. She still had the Drooble's packs, but the pumpkin pasty and one of the Licorice Wands were gone.

Finally, when Lily stared out the window, she saw that it was nighttime, and stars had come out. As she looked on, she saw, to her excitement, shooting star graze across the horizon.

"I wish I could find out where this wand was really from," Lily said before she even knew what she was saying.

Suddenly, her wand (which she was still holding in her hand) began to vibrate. The wood grew warm, then hot. Yelping, Lily dropped it and rubbed her burnt hand, all the while watching the wand on the compartment floor. A bright light was coming out the end. The light grew brighter, consuming everything in the compartment, including Lily.

Lily only heard Albus shouting the words, "Hey, Lil! Get your robes on, we're almost-" before she felt and saw nothing.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it. Please read and review, and tell me how I did! Thank you and have a nice day! :)**


	2. I'm Where?

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!**

* * *

Lily was falling, falling and falling. Down and down she went, her wand floating beside her. Lily wondered what it would be like if the wand were a human. It would probably be falling in a relaxed position, since that was what the wand looked like it would do if it had arms and legs. Her red hair whipped around her face, then up into the air.

And suddenly, she saw green grass below her, and before she could try to break her fall, she fell with a THUMP. Her wand landed beside her in the grass.

Lily lay there for a second, trying to compose herself, then sat up and checked for injuries. Nothing, which was surprising; you'd think if you fell from a distance like that, the least you could do is break your arm. But none of her bones were broken.

"Weird," Lily thought.

When she looked around, Lily saw that she was in a strange forest. It was definitely not the Forbidden Forest, or any forest she knew.

"Where in Merlin's name am I?" she said out loud.

Suddenly, she heard a clop, clop, clop sound. A horse, she realized.

"Maybe whoever it is can help me," she thought. Lily grabbed her wand, stood up, and began to run in the direction of the sound.

Finally, she saw a break through the trees, and ran faster. She meant to skid to a stop at the entrance of the forest, but tripped on something (probably a tree root) and fell to the ground.

"Oof!" she grunted.

Just then, she felt something poke into her back. She reached behind her back (which took a great deal of effort, mind you) and felt it. It was wood. A wand, maybe? Or just a plain old stick?

She meant to get up, but the wood thing pushed her back down. "Stay where you are," said a voice that sounded old and raspy, and sharp in this case.

"Who is this?" she asked, her voice shaking. Yep, she was a little afraid. She tried to bring her arms up in the air, but only succeeded in getting them up in the air with her elbows still touching the ground.

"I'm... I'm not armed," she said.

The wood thing on her back relaxed, and Lily was able to get up off the ground. Looking at the wood thing, she saw that it was the end of a staff.

"I got all afraid over a staff?" she thought.

Looking up, she saw that it's owner was an old man with long grey hair and a grey beard, and that wore a grey robe and a grey hat. Looking around, she also saw two children standing behind Gandalf. One had dark, curly hair and bright blue eyes that put a hand on the left side of his chest protectively. The other was chubby, and had yellow hair, and was standing slightly in front of the other one. When Lily looked closer, she realized that they weren't kids, because their faces were mature, and adult-like.

"Oh," the old man said, looking a little sheepish. "Merely a child."

"What's a child of Men doing in the Shire?" the blonde one asked suspiciously.

It slipped out before Lily could control herself. "What the bloody hell is the Shire?"

She slapped a hand over her mouth. Oops.

"Child of Men, what is your name?" the old man asked, this time gently. She looked up at him, and looking into his eyes found that she could trust him. The others she wasn't so sure.

Lily stood up, dusted dirt off of her skirt that Ginny had insisted she wore, and began to talk.

"My name's Lily Luna Potter. What're your names and where on Earth is the Shire?"

The old man' slips curled into a small smile. "I am Gandalf the Grey, a wizard, and these are hobbits of the Shire. Frodo Baggins, and Samwise Gamgee, or Sam."

Lily looked over (or down, rather) at the so called hobbits. She had no idea which one was which, but she figured she would be able to tell them apart eventually.

"Okay, nice to meet you all. Now where's the Shire and where am I?"

Now Gandalf looked confused. "Do you not know? You are in Middle Earth."

* * *

Gandalf had to admit that he was confused. And by a child, no less!

This red-headed, brown eyed girl was eleven in the years of men, but he felt magic (strong magic) throb from her. And some of it seemed to come from the stick the pocket of her skirt. What that was, Gandalf didn't know.

And she didn't know where she was. Maybe she had hit her head and gotten amnesia. But Gandalf had a feeling that she hadn't gotten that.

"A wizard?" the child, Lily, asked. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "So you can do magic? Magic like me?"

Now he was really confused.

"Y-yes, child, I can do magic. You say you do magic?" Gandalf asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

"Yeah,"

The child took her stick out of her pocket, swished it through the air, and flicked it. Red sparks flew out of the tip, exploding right in front of Gandalf's nose. Frodo and Sam looked shocked.

* * *

Lily noticed them staring at her.

"What?" she asked. "It's just magic. I can't do a lot of it yet, but when I complete my education I'll be able to do loads of magic. My mum and dad..."

She trailed off at this part.

In her rush, Lily had completely forgotten about Mum and Dad. Hot tears began to form in her stomach, and she shut her eyes, refusing to let them spill. But one tear slid out and down her cheek, landing on the ground.

And although she didn't know it, a small flower appeared where the tear had splashed down.

Lily turned back to Gandalf.

"So you said this is Middle Earth?" she asked. "Well then, where's the nearest place I can find information?"

Gandalf stared at her.

"In order to obtain information," he replied, "You would have to journey to the nearest town of Men, Bree. That is where these hobbits are going. Unfortunately, Bree is a few miles away, and you would not get there until five days from now."

"All right," Lily said, and turned to the hobbits. "I'll just travel with you then."

* * *

Now it was _Frodo's_ turn to be shocked. As if he already wasn't. This girl, Lily, could do magic like Gandalf! But Gandalf had a staff; this girl had a stick that she used. And now she just said that she would journey with him and Sam!

"Is that all right with you?" the girl asked him. She looked at him with slightly pleading eyes. "I don't have anywhere else to go, and it doubt I would fit in in whatever the Shire is. Besides, when I'm in Bree, I'll get information, and maybe even leave you alone. I won't be any trouble, honest I won't."

Frodo sighed in his mind, and wondered if pity was his weakness.

"I suppose it wouldn't be any trouble," he found himself saying.

The girl smiled. The smile went to her eyes, and her entire body seemed to glow with relief.

"Excellent."

* * *

**A/N: As they say in the Looney Tunes cartoons, that's all, folks! **

**I won't be updating anymore tonight, so this is the last chapter for the day. **

**I have to go now, so ciao! **


	3. Clearly Overreacting

**A/N: Soooooo... only one review? Like I said in the summery, give it a chance, people! This story is my first hand at a crossover, so I need some constructive criticism. Thank you to Fizzywizz for reviewing! **

**This is the last time I do a chapter with a disclaimer since I did it all the way in the first chapter. **

**I do not own LOTR, or Harry Potter. Thank you. **

**BTW, this chapter will be longer than most. **

* * *

The group now consisting of two hobbits and the young witch walked and walked and walked. Lily didn't mind that, because for the past ten years she had gone to Take Your Child to Work Day with Harry, and let's just say it takes a long while to get to the Auror office.

Along the way, she learned how to tell Frodo and Sam apart. Frodo was the one with the bright eyes, and Sam was the one with the blonde hair. Sam's cooking, Lily also learned, was amazing.

The first time they stopped to get a meal going, Sam sent most of the time squatting near it, cooking something in a pot. When he handed a bowl to her, Lily saw that it was stew. Hesitantly, Lily took her spoon and held it over the bowl.

"You must try it," Frodo coaxed her. "Sam makes the most excellent stew in all of Hobbiton,"

Sam went pink with pleasure at the comment.

Lily dipped the spoon into her bowl, and brought it up to her lips. Her eyes lit up, and she swallowed.

"I can see, or rather, taste why," she said to them. "This is amazing, Sam! My mum makes a good..."

And she trailed off again. She put down her bowl and turned away from them so they wouldn't see the tears.

Lily suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and tensed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that it was Frodo and relaxed. His eyes were full of concern, and he even asked, "Are you all right, Lady Lily?"

At a different time, Lily would've wondered why he was calling her 'Lady Lily', but instead she wiped eyes and turned back around.

"Yeah, I'm all right. Just, a painful memory," Lily replied.

"What was the memory?" Sam asked curiously.

"My mum," Lily replied, staring at the ground. "I left her behind, along with my dad and two brothers. My dad is... let's just say he's well-known where I come from."

Frodo and Sam nodded. Sam opened his mouth to ask another question, but Lily saw and sprang up.

"I think I'll go get some more firewood," she said quickly, and practically ran out of the camp. She actually did gather up some sticks to make her excuse believable, and hid behind a tree to listen.

"Sam," Frodo was saying, "I don't think Lady Lily wants to remember too many things about where she comes from. She did leave them behind after all,"

Lily smiled slightly. Frodo reminded her of Albus a little.

"Sorry, Mr. Frodo," Sam said. "I suppose I did get too curious,"

Lily took a deep breath, and walked back to the camp. Frodo and Sam looked up, but didn't say anything.

They never knew that Lily had eavesdropped.

* * *

The trio had been walking for a while now when they came to a cornfield. Somehow, Lily and Frodo got separated from Sam.

"Frodo, where's Sam?" Lily asked as she looked around. Suddenly, as if on cue, they heard Sam say, "Mr. Frodo? Lily?"

Lily had asked them to please not call her Lady Lily by then. She and Frodo walked towards the sound.

"Frodo? Frodo?"

They turned around a corner, and finally found Sam, who looked like he wanted to sigh with relief. "I thought I lost you," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Frodo asked. Sam walked over to him.

"It's just something Mr. Gandalf said," Sam replied. "'Don't you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't mean to."

"Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"

Right on cue, two more hobbits burst out of the cornfield, knocking over Frodo and Sam. Lily got out of the way in time.

This time, the two hobbits had sandy hair, and one wore a scarf around his neck. He looked at Frodo (who he had fallen on top of), and exclaimed, "Frodo! Merry! It's Frodo Baggins!"

"So I guess they know him," Lily thought.

The other hobbit, Merry Lily supposed, got up off of Sam. "Hello Frodo!" he said cheerfully.

Lily ran over and helped up Sam. It was then that she noticed a stalk of celery and two carrots had fallen off of Merry. And still more came out of his and the other hobbit's pockets.

"What's the meaning of this?" Frodo asked. Merry handed Sam some of the vegetables.

"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" Sam accused frantically.

Suddenly, they heard someone shouting. Lily looked over the stalks of corn to see a weeding tool sticking out above them. The two hobbits ran away, Frodo following. Lily ran off too, pulling Sam with her, not wanting to risk getting into trouble with this Farmer Maggot.

"I don't know why he's so upset!" Merry said as they ran through the cornfield. "It's only a couple of carrots,"

"And some cabbages," the other hobbit added ahead of them. "And those two sacks of potatoes we lifted for him last week. And the mushrooms, the week before!"

"Yes, Pippin!" Merry said to him. "My point is, he's clearly overreacting!"

Lily was about to ask/shout at them if they'd stolen from his crops before, but she never got a chance. She was now ahead of all the other hobbits, and saw an edge very close. In surprise, Lily skidded to a stop. Merry bumped into her, the other one, Pippin, bumped into him, and Frodo bumped into Pippin. They would've remained that way if Sam hadn't bumped into Frodo, sending them tumbling down and falling.

In a panic, Lily shrieked a spell she had heard her Aunt Hermione say a couple times. "Arresto Momentum!"

They stopped falling a foot form the ground, then landed in a heap. Lily untangled herself, and saw the stares coming from three of the hobbits.

"You, you can do magic?" Pippin asked. He had a Scottish accent on his voice.

"Yeah. Why?" Lily asked.

Pippin didn't reply, because Sam got up from under him mumbling, "Trust a Brandybuck and a Took!"

"That was just a detour," Merry said as he got off his back. "A shortcut!"

"A shortcut to what?" Sam asked.

"Mushrooms!" Pippin exclaimed.

They all rushed toward a patch of mushrooms two feet from them, accidentally trampling over Lily and knocking her face into the dirt. She was finally able to get up, and dusted herself off.

Lily was just picking up one of the Drooble's packs from off the ground, when she heard Frodo say frantically, "Get off the road! Quick!"

Lily scrambled for a hiding place, and dove into bushes that were on the side of the road. She had just concealed herself completely however, when she heard the hooves of a horse. A suddenly coldness came into the air, and Lily drew her sweater around her tighter. She heard footsteps, then a sniffing sound.

"Please don't let it find me," she prayed over and over. "Please don't let it find me!"

Suddenly, she heard a rusting sound, and whoever it was rode away. She popped up from the bushes, and found Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin running into the thicket. She ran after them, and heard one of them say, "We're being followed. Run!"

"Wait!" she said loudly. Not a shout, but not at normal level. "It's just me!"

Frodo's face came into view. "Lily! It's only Lily, Merry,"

"Lily?" Pippin asked. "Who's that?"

"Me," Lily said, coming into view. "I'm Lily. And yes, I'm the girl that did the magic. It's a long story, I'll explain it later, and who are you?"

The two other hobbits formally introduced themselves. They were Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, but preferred to be called Merry and Pippin. Once Lily was able to tell them apart, they were off again.

Night came, and they were still running through the section of forest near the road. Frodo went to hide behind a bush to check the road. "Anything?" Lily called.

"Nothing," Frodo replied.

"What is going on?" Pippin asked.

Frodo didn't say anything. He just stared at the road. Finally, he muttered, "I have to leave the Shire. Sam, Lily and I must get to Bree."

"Right," Merry said. "Buckleberry Ferry. Follow me!"

They were running down the road, however, when a horse came face to face with them. Sitting in the horse was a rider clothed all in black. The rider screamed a horrible scream that made goosebumps appear on Lily's skin.

"Run!" she shrieked.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, I'm stopping it there. I'm evil! -evil grin- **

**Anyway, this will probably be the longest chapter so far. Soon enough, you will see another person from Harry Potter appear. I'm not saying who it is, though. You'll have to find out for yourself. **

**Anyhoo, I have to go now. Ciao! **


	4. Bree

A/N: So I got a review! YAY! And I am going to answer it here:

Alexma: Great chapter, can you give us a hint of who from Harry Potter will show up, update soon thanks.

To answer your question, Alexma, I accidentally slipped it out in the first chapter, you just have to have looked properly.

Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

_"Run!" Lily shrieked. _

Lily took her own advice and ran without thinking. Her limbs just seemed to move by themselves, making her unable to control what they did. The young witch had never been so frightened in her life.

Merry soon caught up with her, and passed her. He was their guide to Buckleberry Ferry, after all. Lily made a note in the back of her head to ask Merry why whoever named it named it Buckleberry Ferry.

Anyway, she ran as fast as she could, vaulting herself over a fence when she got close to it. She reached the river just after Merry, and helped him, then Pippin, then Sam get onto the raft sitting on the water. Sam quickly began to untie the rope.

"Wait!" Lily shrieked again. "We forgot Frodo!"

Indeed, Frodo had gotten behind the others, and the black rider was right on his tail. But he was too late. Sam untied the last knot, and the raft began to drift away from the bank.

"JUMP!" Lily screamed at him. Which Frodo did, and landed safely on the raft.

The black rider's horse stopped at the bank, and the rider screamed again and rode away. Lily sighed with relief, reached down into the water, and splashed some in her face, thinking, "Thank Merlin that's over,"

"How far to the nearest crossing?" she heard Frodo ask.

"The Brandywine Bridge," Merry replied. "Twenty miles,"

Lily splashed some more water on her face, then sat down on the raft, and drew her knees up to her chin. She would've remained that way if Pippin hadn't asked her a question. Or rather, three.

"So are you a witch? What other magic can you do? Where are you from, anyway?"

* * *

It was raining hard by the time the band of five reached Bree. Lily wasn't afraid of the thunder and lightning, but she was drenched, even though she had her traveling cloak with and on her.

-Flashback-

_The hobbits and Lily were trudging down another path, when Pippin suddenly exclaimed that he felt a raindrop. _

_Soon enough, Lily felt drops patter down on her head, and soon they were all soaked. _

_"As if it couldn't get any worse," Lily thought. She kicked a nearby rock as hard as she could. _

_Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and they all covered their eyes. Lily looked up first, and exclaimed in delight, _

_"Hey! It's my traveling cloak!" _

_And when she ran over, there indeed hanging on a tree branch, was her black Hogwarts traveling cloak. And someone had been generous enough to include a hood! _

_"Is that yours?" Pippin asked. _

_"Of course it's hers, Pippin," Merry said. "Why else would she be glad to see it?" _

_Lily took the traveling cloak off the branch, and flung it over herself. There were hidden pockets inside that Lily supposed had been there before and she hadn't known. When she reached inside, curious to see what was in there but sure there wouldn't be anything, she found that there was a holder in there that allowed her to keep her wand out of sight. _

_She smiled a genuine smile that at least Frodo seemed happy to see._

-End Flashback-

They were now concealed in bushes outside the entrance to Bree. Frodo looked around for the black riders, saw nothing, and whispered, "Come on,"

They ran to the entrance. Lily lowered the hood of her traveling cloak so whoever answered the door could see her, and knocked when Frodo nodded.

A man with flyaway grey hair opened a slot in the door. Lily pointed down. He sighed, and opened a slot that was eye level with the hobbits.

"What do you want?" he asked, somewhat discouraged.

"We are heading for the Prancing Pony," Frodo said. Lily supposed he was still pretty shaken about the black riders. Merlin knows she was.

The man opened the door and held up a lantern. "Hobbits! Four hobbits, and a little girl! What business do you all have in Bree?"

"We wish to stay at the inn," Frodo said quickly. "Our business is our own."

The man nodded. "All right master hobbit, I meant no offense. It's my business to greet travelers that come to Bree after dark. There's talk of strange folk abroad."

"Can't be too careful, eh?" Lily asked as she walked through. The man nodded.

As they walked through Bree, Lily's shoes were soon splashed with mud, and water was seeping into her socks. She went through a puddle of water on the sidewalk to sort of wash off her shoes. Lily wondered, not for the first time, why hobbits didn't where shoes.

"Probably because of their hairy feet," she supposed.

As they passed a sort-of fat man eating a carrot*, Lily looked up at an upcoming building, and asked, "So that's it then?"

Right in front of them was indeed the sign for the Prancing Pony.

When Lily walked in, she was immediately greeted by a comforting blast of heat from a roaring fireplace. As she lowered her hood again, she suddenly felt tired. The only things she wanted now were a hot drink, maybe a bath, and a warm bed. But there wasn't really any time for that right now.

Frodo led them to a counter that Lily supposed was where you could check into the inn. "Excuse me,"

A man with a mustache that could've rivaled Lily's Great Uncle Vernon looked down at him. "Good evening, little masters!" he said cheerfully. "If you and your friend here are looking for accommodations, I've got some nice cozy hobbit and normal sized rooms, Mr..."

Frodo hesitated for a second, then said, "Underhill. My name's Underhill,"

"And overhill, too," Lily though to herself, and had to stifle her giggle.

"We're meeting a friend of ours," Frodo continued. "Gandalf the Grey. Can you tell him we've arrived?"

"Gandalf?" the man said, then thought for a minute. "Gandalf... Oh! I remember, elderly chap. But grey beard and pointy hat," he said. They all nodded, or at least Frodo, Sam and Lily did.

"Not seen him for six months,"

That stopped them all cold. Then they gathered in a huddle, Lily having to squat down.

"Now what do we do?" she whispered.

* * *

A few minutes later, Lily found herself sitting amidst men drinking mugs of ale. She sat across from Frodo, who was staring absentmindedly into his drink which Merry had gotten for them. Sam wasn't drinking his either, and Lily was sure she would fall asleep right there any minute.

Lily was confused about multiple things. For one thing, why had Frodo and Sam even left the Shire? Form how they had described it to her, it seemed too nice a place to leave. So why had they? Lily resolved to find out why.

Second: What were those black riders and what did they want?

And third: As Lily was looking around through tired eyes, she had noticed two men in cloaks sitting in a booth at the far end of the restaurant. One was smoking a pipe, and they looked like they were both... staring at their little party.

Lily was about to point this out, but Sam beat her to it. "Those two fellows have done nothing but stare at you since we arrived," he said to Frodo. He pointed to the two men.

Frodo grabbed the shirt of a man passing by. "Excuse me? Who are they? Those two in the corner?"

The man looked in both directions before leaning close. "The one smoking the pipe, he's one of them Rangers from the North. I don't know his real name, but around here, he's known as Strider."

"What about the other man?" Lily asked.

"He suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Bree about a week ago. No one knows his real name but that Ranger, and we all know better than to ask a Ranger for a favor."

The man went away. Frodo muttered, "Strider."

The fire in the fireplace suddenly burned brighter, lighting up the dark corner a little. Now, all Lily could see of them besides their silhouettes was their eyes. The one called Strider had piercing grey ones, while the other one had green ones. Green ones that somehow, Lily had seen before...

"Baggins? Sure, I know a Baggins. He's over there. Frodo Baggins,"

Lily whirled around to see Pippin sitting at the bar. She smacked her head against the table in frustration, thinking, "If I knew how to, I'd hex that hobbit,"

Frodo ran over to the bar, and pulled on Pippin's sleeve. He tripped over a man's shoe and fell flat on his back. Something was suddenly thrown up into the air. Lily squinted, and saw that it was a gold ring. It fell down to the ground, and landed neatly on Frodo's left ring finger. The Frodo was gone.

The men at the bar gasped, and started to look around for the disappearing hobbit.

Suddenly, without thinking, Lily was on her feet and applauding, as if the disappearing hobbit was all a joke. Everyone stared at her, wondering why a young girl would be applauding.

"I didn't know there were magicians here!" she heard herself say. "That was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frodo reappear under a table, before he was dragged out of it by the Strider man. He said something to him, and pulled him up the stairs. The other man that was with Strider followed.

Sam, Merry, and Pippin ran over to the stairs. Merry carried a candlestick, Pippin carried a chair, and Sam just used his fists. Sighing, Lily retrieved her traveling cloak from her chair and flung it over herself. She slid her wand out of it's holster, and made for the stairs.

She came behind Pippin just in time for Sam to barge through the door. The Strider man was holding a sword out in front of him, while the other man was holding out a knife. Strider's hood was down, so Lily could see him clearly now. He had long (for a man) brown hair, and had an athletic build.

"Let him go!" Sam yelled at him. "Or I'll have you, Longshanks!"

Strider exchanged a glance with the other man, and sheathed his sword. The man out his knife away.

"You have a stout heart, hobbit," Strider said to Sam. "But that alone will not save you."

He turned to Frodo, who was cowering by the fireplace, looking very frightened. "You can no longer wait for the wizard, Frodo," he said. "They are coming."

Suddenly, a gust of wind burst through the windows of the room, blowing back the hair of everyone, and it also blew back the hood of the other man. Lily found herself gazing into those green eyes again. But this time, she also saw a mop of messy, black hair that had blown back to reveal a thin, lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

She didn't have to ask. She already knew.

"D-dad?"

* * *

**A/N: Yep, you all know who it is. Hope you enjoyed it! **


	5. Into the Wild

**A/N: First of, sorry about the delay. I was at Camp Tamarack for three days. So, to make it up to y'all, here's the fifth chapter of A Tale of Two Potters! It may be short, but it's all I got for now. **

**More than 500 views! That's freaking amazing! Thank you all! Enjoy, people! :) **

* * *

"D-dad?"

Lily felt her wand slip through her fingers and clatter to the floor. But she didn't care. All she could see was her beloved dad. Harry was looking at Lily pretty much the same way.

At breakneck speed, Lily shot across the room and buried her face in Harry's chest, sobbing. Harry cast an apologizing look at Aragorn (A/N: Harry knows his name because Aragorn's the one who found Harry outside Bree) and sat Lily down on the bed, stroking her red hair.

The hobbits were staring at him all the while, making Harry feel really uncomfortable. He had never seen a hobbit before, and had been curious to know what they looked like, so it had been sort of exciting to watch for the hobbits to come to Bree.

What Harry hadn't expected was someone else to come into the inn with them. It had been a small figure, wearing a black cloak with a hood and a button down front. When the figure had lowered it's hood, Harry had received a shock when he saw his daughter and youngest child, Lily. She sat with the four, staying close to the two they had been expecting.

Then the dark haired hobbit had slipped on the ring Aragorn had told him about, and they had both stood up at the same time. They whirled around when they heard clapping, and saw Lily standing there, applauding and smiling like an idiot.

"I didn't know there were magicians here!" she had said. "That was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"Maybe she's buying that hobbit time," Harry thought. In truth, much like Lily had, he didn't have the foggiest idea why Lily was standing there, applauding like a Muggle at a magic show.

Then the other three hobbits had burst into the room, trying to rescue their friend, which Harry thought was touching, and saw Lily standing there again, with her wand out. She couldn't really do anything yet, just shoot red sparks, but still, he admired her perseverance. Just like her mother. Lily then noticed him, and was so surprised she dropped her wand. That's when she ran over to him and started to sob in his chest.

Lily had gone through some horrible stuff for the past week. She had accidentally transported herself to a different world, and had gotten scared to death by a screaming black rider. And now she had almost lost one of her new friends.

But here, in her Dad's arms, Lily felt safe. She knew her Dad wouldn't let those black riders lay a finger on her, if they had any. After all, if her dad defeated the Dark Lord, he could defeat anything, right?

* * *

A couple hours later, things were slowly moving along. The group of seven was now staking out the room where the hobbits were supposed to be staying in. Sam, Merry, and Pippin had fallen asleep on the bed, while Frodo remained wide awake. Lily and Harry were sitting on the floor. Lily had fallen asleep out of pure exhaustion, with her head resting in Harry's shoulder, and Harry seemed to be nodding off himself. Aragorn was the only human in the room that remained awake, and was staring out the window of their room, where he had a clear view of the window from the hobbit's bedroom.

Aragorn looked over at the father and daughter sitting on the floor. Harry hadn't told him he had a daughter. Or maybe he had, but Aragorn hadn't been listening. Aragorn had a tendency to do that.

Yet when the red-headed girl had come through the door and had seen Harry, he had just known that this was someone Harry knew. His hypothesis was proved when the girl ran for him.

Aragorn was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of slashing swords. It was coming from the hobbits' room. Obviously they had thought the decoys Aragorn had out there were real.

Suddenly, a scream tore through the night. The three sleeping hobbits, Lily, and Harry were jerked awake. Lily looked like she had woken up with a crick in her neck. Frodo sat up from where he was lying on the bed, finally nodding off.

"What are they?" he asked softly. Aragorn looked over at him.

"They were once men," he said. "Great kings of men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to them nine rings of power. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one falling to darkness."

He looked out the window towards the other room, then turned back to Frodo.

"They are the Nazgul. Ringwraiths. Neither living nor dead. At all times they hunt for the power of the Ring. They will never stop hunting you."

* * *

The next day, Lily was slightly discouraged to hear that they would be walking again. At least she was able to wash herself first. She had a feeling Harry had something to do with that, since it had seemed like Aragorn wasn't concerned about Lily's well-being.

What she wanted to know was where Strider was taking them. Harry obviously knew, but wasn't saying. Lily was actually too freaked out by Strider to ask where they were going. Frodo probably was too, but he asked.

"Where are you taking us?" he asked.

Strider muttered something, and resumed walking.

Lily tugged on Harry's sleeve, and asked, "Can we trust him? Strider, I mean,"

Harry looked down at her. "Do you think we can?" he asked.

Lily stopped. She was worried that Harry might get angry if she answered truthfully. So she told a lie that was partially true.

"I'm not really sure."

* * *

Lily flopped down in the dirt in the tiny cave Strider had found. It didn't even matter that they were under an abandoned watchtower Strider said was called Weathertop. Frodo sat down next to her, looking very tired. His skin was pale-looking.

"Are you all right?" Lily asked. Frodo jumped, as if he hadn't realized she was there.

"I'm all right," he said.

Harry sat down next to her. "You ought to get some sleep, Lily,"

Lily looked up with frightened brown eyes. "What if those Ringwraith things show up?"

Strider walked over to her, pulled something off of his belt, and handed it to Lily. It was a sheath that held, when Lily grasped the handle, a shiny dagger. She stared at it in awe, then stared up at Strider. He nodded, then strode away. Harry clapped the young witch on the shoulder before getting up and following.

* * *

"_What are you doing?!_"

Lily woke up to the sound of Frodo's frantic voice. She had fallen asleep next to Frodo, who was now standing up and staring at Sam, Merry, and Pippin. At first, Lily wasn't sure what was going on in her groggy state, but as it came into focus, she saw that the three hobbits had built a fire. The eleven year old smacked her forehead with her palm, and went to help Frodo stamp out the fire.

Suddenly, Lily heard a shrieking scream, and felt the goosebumps go up her spine again.

The Ringwraiths.

* * *

**A/N: Yep, another cliffhanger. Don't you hate it when I do this? Sorry, peeps, but I've got a schedule to keep. **

**Anyway, I gotta go, so adios! **


	6. Weathertop

**A/N: **

**Good news: SUMMER'S HERE! **

**Bad news: I'm going to a twelve-day long fine arts camp in two weeks. **

**Good news: More time to be L-A-Z-Y lazy! **

**Bad news: My parents are making me mow the lawn every weekend. **

**Good news: Here is chapter six of this story! :) **

**Maybe-not-so-bad news: I have a small case of writers block, so cut me some slack on this one. **

* * *

_Suddenly, Lily heard a shrieking scream, and felt the goosebumps go up her spine again. _

_The Ringwraiths. _

Frodo drew his sword, and shouted for the other hobbits and Lily to run. Which Lily did, wondering where Harry and Aragorn were. Hadn't they heard the scream?

Lily snatched up the dagger and drew it. Her wand was safe in it's holster in her traveling cloak, and Lily was pretty sure the Ringwraiths wouldn't be intimidated by a few red sparks.

Once in the ruins of the fortress, Lily's frightened brown eyes swept over her surroundings. She struggled to keep her dagger steady in her shaking hands. When she felt something move up against her back, she tensed, and relaxed a little when she saw it was just Frodo.

Suddenly, she heard a metallic clank, and fearfully turned around.

And there it was.

A Ringwraith had come into the ruins, his metal boots crunching against the dirt. He was followed by first two, three, and four more. Five Ringwraiths, one for each of them. This was supposed to be a cheery thought, but Lily didn't feel very confident as they all drew pointed swords.

It was Sam who snapped her out of her frightened trance.

"Back you devils!"

He charged, but was thrown aside. Merry and Pippin moved to stand in front of Frodo, to protect him, but a wraith slashed his sword in the air and they separated. Frodo was now left defenseless as he dropped his sword and fell to the ground.

Lily was forgotten entirely by everyone on Weathertop. She had sheathed her dagger and ran away from everyone to hide behind a rock. Once there, she hit her head with her fist, scolding herself.

"How can you be so frightened?" she asked herself. "Some child of Harry Potter I am."

Suddenly, she heard a dreadful scream of immense pain that cut through the seemingly endless night, and Lily's heart nearly stopped. She drew her knees up to her chin, and rocked back in forth in fear.

Just then, Lily felt a vibration against her side. Her wand was vibrating in it's holster, wanting to be used. She took it out and looked at it. It kept vibrating, almost as if to say, "Well? What're you waiting for?"

Receiving no answer, the wand (to Lily's surprise) stopped vibrating. Lily put it away, thinking, "I could've done something. But I didn't. What does that make me then?"

* * *

Harry and Aragorn charged up to the ruins, Harry sliding his wand out of his belt. They burst into the clearing, and Harry immediately shouted, "Incendio!"

Fire burst out of the tip of his wand. He was it's controller, and Harry wasn't about to back down no matter how terrifying these Ringwraiths were. For good measure, he conjured a Patronous. It galloped around, bringing light and comfort to the hobbits. They stared up at it in awe, but didn't try to touch it.

But as Harry looked around as he was sending the fire on the Ringwraiths, he saw Frodo come out of nowhere, screaming in agony as if someone had set the Cruciatus Curse on him. Sam immediately ran over to him, as did Merry and Pippin. But where was...

As Aragorn took care of the last Ringwraith, Harry looked around frantically, searching for any sign of Lily. When he didn't find a trace of her, his Patronous disappeared with a pop.

Meanwhile, Aragorn had taken one look at Frodo, and reported that he had been stabbed. Harry ran his fingers through his untidy hair, wanting to help but also wanting to search for Lily. Had she ran off?

Suddenly, they all heard a whimper and sprang up, looking around. Harry thought it was coming from behind a huge rock. He started toward it, but Aragorn grabbed the younger man's arm.

"Are you certain?" he whispered. Harry nodded, and started walking toward the rock. Before he was even close enough to touch it, he saw a head of red hair emerge.

He crouched down, and got closer to the rock. And there she was. Lily sat behind the rock, her knees drawn up to her chin, and she was rocking back and forth a little. It seemed that she was trying to silently cry, but it wasn't working.

Harry turned back to Aragorn, who he saw had his sword out. Harry shot what he hoped was a, "Seriously?" expression at him. Aragorn lowered his sword, looking a little sheepish.

* * *

"Lily?"

Lily stopped rocking and weeping, and tensed. She knew who it was, but she didn't want to move. Was it too cowardly of her to want to go home?

"Don't be afraid, Lily. It'll be all right,"

Lily felt Harry crawl closer to her, and allowed herself to be settled into Harry's arms and picked up.

Unable to go against her want for sleep any longer, Lily rested her head on Harry's shoulder and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: **

**-looks over chapter- Okay, definitely not my best work. Sorry if you found this boring. **

**I have to go now, so have a nice day, y'all! **


	7. It's Not Your Fault

**A/N: Happy Father's Day! :) **

**I dedicate this chapter of A Tale of Two Potters to my dad, because he's awesome and I love him a lot. Enjoy. :) **

* * *

Or at least, Lily _tried_ to fall asleep. It felt like she had only been asleep for a second in her father's arms when she was woken up again.

Looking around, she soon realized that she had not been asleep for only a second. For one thing, they had moved their location to a small grove in a forest that had strange stone statues surrounding it. And for another, Frodo was lying beside her.

He looked terrible. His hair was soaked with sweat, his eyes looked bloodshot, and he was making a noise that seemed like a cross between a whimper and a croak.

Just then, Sam came into view, stared down at Frodo, and said to him, "Look, Frodo. Mr. Bilbo's trolls,"

Those statues were trolls? Lily propped herself up to get a better look at them. A few seconds later, Lily suddenly saw all black.

But she hadn't fainted. Harry had rushed over when he saw her awake and enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're all right," he murmured into her hair. "You slept for almost a day. The hobbits were so worried about you,"

Lily tried to say something, but for some reason, she felt too exhausted.

"He's goin' cold!" Sam suddenly reported, feeling Frodo's forehead.

Lily suddenly felt wide awake. "Can't you do anything?" she asked, looking up at Harry. He shook his head sadly.

"I've tried everything I know of about healing spells, but nothing's working. Where's Hermione when you need her?" Harry added the last part under her breath. He let go of Lily, and she scrambled over to Frodo. The young witch looked at him, and brown eyes met glassy blue ones. After a second, Lily turned away, very certain if she looked at him any longer she would have a meltdown.

"Is he going to die?" Pippin asked Strider.

'I hope not!' Lily thought.

"He's passing into the Shadow world," Strider said to Pippin. "He'll soon become a wraith like them."

Harry said what Lily was thinking out loud. "That's worse!"

Strider sent Sam out to get what he called athelas, and what Sam called kingsfoil. Lily didn't know what that was, nor cared, for that matter.

A few minutes later, Lily was blinded by a the brightest white light. A milky-white horse rode into view, and on that horse sat the most beautiful woman Lily had ever seen. The woman got off the horse and walked over to where Frodo was lying on the ground.

She whispered something to him in a language Lily had never heard before, that sounded comforting and reassuring. Strider returned, carrying some sort of weed in his hands. He chewed up a bit in his mouth, then opened Frodo's shirt to put it on his wound. Frodo gasped and whimpered.

"We must get him to my father," the woman said. Strider lifted Frodo off the ground, bridal-style, and carried him over to the horse.

"Where're you taking him?" Merry asked. Both Strider and the woman ignored him.

Strider lifted Frodo up onto the horse. Then, he and the woman started to talk in the weird language again. Neither of them noticed Lily get off the ground and rush over to the horse.

Lily had to stand on her tip-toes to get eye-level with Frodo. Well, at least she looked at him. He didn't look back. She didn't really want to be separated from him, but she also knew if the woman didn't get him to wherever she was taking him, he would become one of those Ringwraiths. If only he hadn't gotten stabbed, Lily thought angrily.

"It's not fair!" Lily found herself saying.

A warm hand suddenly fell on her shoulder. Lily looked up to see the woman with her hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Return to your father," she said softly. "Do not worry about your friend. He shall be fine."

And although she didn't want to, Lily squeezed Frodo's pale and clammy hand, and walked back over to Harry, who put an arm around her.

Just then, as the woman jumped onto the horse, Frodo's head turned. For a second, glassy blue locked with frightened brown again, before the horse rode away.

"What are you doing?" Sam yelled after the woman. "Those wraiths are still out there!"

Lily buried her face into Harry's chest, and began to sob. Hard. At this point, she didn't really care if Merry, Pippin, Sam, or even Strider saw her.

"I-it's, not, f-fair," Lily sobbed. She felt Harry stroke her hair and huddled closer to his warm body.

"I know," Harry whispered.

* * *

None of them really got a lot of sleep for the rest of the night. Strider and Harry spent most of the night taking turns watching for the Ringwraiths, even though it seemed like they had all gone somewhere else. And there was also the protective spells Harry had set up around the camp to consider. But, as Strider claimed the next morning when Lily pointed this out, better safe than sorry.

Sam kept sitting up throughout the night, as if he could see where Frodo and the woman were right then. Merry and Pippin kept squirming around, probably trying to find a comfortable position. They finally got to sleep after... well, Lily had lost all sense of time by then.

Lily spent the entire night with one thought echoing in her brain: _He doesn't deserve this. _

And after every time she heard that sentence, Frodo's pained scream back on Weathertop would follow.

Needless to say, when Lily woke up, her eyes felt heavy, and her hair defied the laws of gravity. Running her fingers through her red locks, she saw that she had woken up first out of all of them. Dawn had come, she suspected, since the campsite was more visible than it had been during the night. Looking around, she saw Strider propped up against a tree, sleeping, and Harry also asleep at the feet of one of the stone trolls, and snoring.

Lily started to laugh at that, then stopped. She didn't really want to wake up Strider, or any of them come to think of it. So instead, she quietly searched the area for wood to make a small fire.

When she had collected enough, she couldn't start it manually, so she took out her wand and tried to remember the spell Harry had used last night at Weathertop.

Suddenly, a fire rose out of the wood on it's own. Shocked, Lily turned around to see Harry putting away his wand. He caught her staring, and replied to her unasked question, "I thought you could use some help."

He smiled and sat beside her. They both stared at the flames for a while, and just as the sun was fully out and the forest was entirely visible, Harry spoke again.

"It's not your fault."

Lily looked up at him. "Huh?"

"What happened that night wasn't your fault, Lily. You know that, don't you?"

Lily turned her head back to the flames. She set her chin on her knees again, and nodded.

It wasn't her fault. That made Lily feel better, somewhat, but she still felt like crap. Why? Because she still felt that she could've done something to help. Maybe if she had, Frodo might've not gotten stabbed.

Oh well. The nightmare of Weathertop was over. Those thoughts didn't matter right now.

* * *

**A/N: And that's it. Hope you guys enjoyed.**

**Once again, happy Father's Day! :) **


	8. Rivendell

**A/N: This is something I'm just typing as I go. It's mostly about Lily's experiences in Rivendell, and also includes Frodo waking up. Read and review and enjoy! **

* * *

Why was Rivendell the most beautiful place Lily had ever visited? There were a lot of reasons.

First, the gardens. They looked like they had been treated with immense care and affection, with the best gardening tools and skill Rivendell had to offer.

The city itself. It looked like it had grown up right from the ground, and dirt was replaced with stone, and the stone was carved into shapes; rooms, doors, hallways, houses, and all of it was carved expertly down to the last detail.

Finally, the details. Every single detail looked like it had been sketched on paper by someone before being carved. And then his son pointed out parts that could've been touched up, and added that in. Then his son added more details, and then his son looked over it and made a few finishing touches before saying it could be carved.

Then he had hired the best stone carvers in the area to work together to make the statues.

The same was with the decorations. The tapestries and rugs, for example, looked like they had been woven by the best weavers in the area all under one roof.

In conclusion, everything looked as if it had been made with extreme care, and designed to perfection.

On the other hand, Godric's Hollow was neither beautiful nor ugly. But it was where she truly belonged in the world. The scratched floorboards where James and Albus and even Lily herself had skidded down the hallway. The kitchen that somehow always had a tidy surface, courtesy of her mum and her awesome Scouring Charm. The slightly heavy sheets and blankets that made you feel safe and comfortable. The garden in the backyard that needed de-gnoming almost every day. The broomsticks scattered around the yard where they had left them after a game of Quidditch. The swoosh noise every morning that signaled her father going off to work at the Ministry. And the smell of smoke and sometimes Dungbombs that liked to seep out of James's room.

Godric's Hollow. It wasn't perfect, she gave it that, but it was home.

But while Godric's Hollow had mostly wizards over Muggles, Rivendell meanwhile had a population that was all elves.

There was something about the elves that was just... totally inhuman. Was it their pointed ears? Their awesome hearing and eyesight? Their elegance?

What really confused her was their ability to give Lily what she had hoped for when the group of three hobbits, two wizards, and Strider first entered Rivendell, when she hadn't even asked for it yet. The warm bath that contrasted to the cold one she had quickly taken in Bree; the chocolate brown dress that was the softest she had ever worn in her life (although she kept tripping over it); a room with an amazing view of a waterfall and the gardens below from the balcony; and a bed that she, James, and Albus all could've slept in and fit perfectly.

But there was something about the elves that made her feel very awkward, yet furious at the same time whenever she was in the same room with them. Perhaps it was the way they spoke their language (Elvish, Lily learned it was called) and they knew that she didn't have the foggiest idea what they were saying, along with the small, almost undetectable smiles on their faces whenever they looked at... well... Lily in general. Her straight, shoulder-length red hair, her brown eyes that drank up whatever they saw, her tanned skin from all that walking, and her stumbles whenever she tripped over her dress. She felt like a klutz whenever she did that one in front of an elf.

Yep. Rivendell was beautiful. And Lily hated it. The village, the Last Homely House, the elves themselves (although she was also fascinated by them), everything that made up Rivendell she hated.

Well, there was one thing she didn't hate about it.

The thing she didn't hate, was that she had a friend. Two friends, actually. One was the woman who had transported Frodo to Rivendell, Arwen, her name was. She had been chased by all nine of the Nazgul, but she still stood her ground got Frodo into care just in time. Lily admired and liked her, not because of her beauty, but because whenever Lily tripped, Arwen helped her off the ground, and also when Lily first told her about what bothered her she felt, somehow, that Arwen understood perfectly. Indeed, Arwen was the only elf in The Last Homely House that didn't smile that stupid, infuriating smile whenever she looked at Lily.

Arwen liked Lily, and Lily liked her back. She liked to hear Lily tell stories from back home, and Lily found that she also liked to hear Arwen tell different stories from different parts of Middle Earth. The dark hair elf-woman didn't care that Lily was human. She didn't care that Lily kept tripping over her "bloody dress." And she didn't care for even a second that Lily was a witch and that Lily's father was a wizard. Indeed, the first time Lily and Arwen talked (and also laughed at times) together, Lily supposed that if Arwen stuck around, Rivendell would eventually become bearable enough for her to like it.

The other person there was another hobbit. His name was Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's cousin (or uncle, depending on who you asked). He had the oldest face Lily had ever seen in her life, and even Harry admitted that he looked as old as his old headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. There were a lot of traits Bilbo had that reminded Lily of Frodo. He was quiet, and liked to read, and like Arwen, he was a very good listener.

In fact, Bilbo could've been Frodo's grandfather, if not his cousin and/or uncle, but Lily would like him either way. For one thing, even though he was elderly (Lily had been shocked to learn he had just turned one hundred and eleven when he left the Shire), he still had something inside him that Lily thought for certain was child-ness. Bilbo liked to both hear stories, and tell them too. Within a week, Lily had learned that Bilbo had been the first hobbit to ever leave the boundaries of the Shire, he had accompanied dwarves to a lost dwarf city called Erebor and helped them reclaim it, he had even participated in a battle, and that back in the Shire it was rumored that he had tunnels overflowing with gold, a parting gift from the dwarves. Bilbo insisted that the rumor was wrong, that, "it was one small chest, hardly overflowing," and that, "it still smells of troll."*

Also while talking with Bilbo, Lily learned some things about her dark-haired friend that she hadn't known before. His parents, Drogo and Primula, had drowned when he was a child (apparently, in what Bilbo called "Shire Reckoning," if you were twelve you're considered to be a child), and he had spent the rest of his childhood in Brandy Hall, which was where Merry lived. Then when Frodo was one year away from his tweens (which was the years between twenty and thirty-three), Bilbo had come to visit his aunt and uncle, the Master and Mistress of Brandy Hall, and developed a friendship with him. Then one year later, when Frodo had entered his tweens, he came to stay with Bilbo, who lived in Bag End at the time. Lily liked that this had happened, because she thought that everyone deserved to have a happy life.

* * *

Of course, there were things that Lily worried about. The thing that worried her the most was Frodo.

He had already been unconscious for two days when they had arrived, and one week later he still hadn't woken up. Harry told her almost daily that she shouldn't be worried and that Lord Elrond's (king of Rivendell, and also their best healer) healing skills were legendary, but Lily swore that when Frodo woke up, she was going to slap him. Hard.

Sam visited his room daily, and every time he returned he reported the same thing when either Lily, Merry, Pippin, or even Bilbo asked what happened: "He hasn't woken up yet." Merry and Pippin said the same thing whenever they came back from a visit, too.

Lily went to visit him once, but he just lay there, probably not even feeling the young girl's worried stare. He stirred once, very, very, weakly, but that was it. But he did do something whenever someone touched his left arm or shoulder, where the stab wound was. Whenever Lord Elrond changed the bandages (Lily liked to watch him do it, and he allowed her to as long as she was quiet), he stirred less weakly, and even whimpered softly once.

Another thing that worried her was how she was going to defend herself if she ever left Rivendell. But she solved that problem almost as soon as she thought of it; she would ask Harry to teach her some offensive and defensive spells to cast. She was sure she could do it, but she would never know unless she tried. After all, wizards took risks, didn't they?

Speaking of wizards, it turned out that Lily and Harry weren't the only wizards in Rivendell at the moment. Gandalf was there too. He had fallen into a trap set by another wizard, who had been the head of the Wizard Council and the most powerful, Saruman the White. From what Gandalf told her and Harry, Lily thought that if she ever met Saruman face-to-face, she wouldn't like him at all.

Anyway, Saruman had been on the side of good, but he suddenly switched to the side of evil. When Gandalf had figured it out during a visit to where Saruman lived, Saruman imprisoned him at the top of his fortress, Isengard. Gandalf narrowly escaped with the help of a giant eagle, which sounded absurd at first. Then again, this was Middle Earth, not the Wizarding world.

Gandalf warned Harry and Lily to be careful if they ever left Rivendell for any reason.

"Saruman does not think like others," he warned. "He must never know you two are here, but if he happens to find out, he will want to kidnap at least one of you and make you his hostage I fear power has dominated his head, and he will want to become more powerful than he already is. Because of this, instead of making you his hostage, he will want to capture the strongest of you both, and take your powers for his own." He narrowed his eyes at them. "You know who the strongest is."

Lily fought very hard to not look at her father.

* * *

They did, however, receive some good news. After two weeks of Frodo's unconsciousness, Lily received a surprise.

She was walking down one of the many hallways of the Last Homely House, lost in thought, when she heard people talking in a room to her right.

When she peeked in, she saw that it was Frodo's room. Her heart leapt, and she almost laughed with happiness when she saw it's inhabitant sitting up in bed and actually talking! Sam was at the bedside, talking, and they hadn't noticed her yet. Gandalf, who was sitting in a chair in the room, did however.

Finally, Frodo looked over and saw Lily standing at the doorway. "Lily!"

Unable to restrain herself, Lily ran over and threw her arms around her friend. She was, of course, careful about Frodo's left side.

When she pulled away, she just smiled, happy that her friend was finally back.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that wasn't too long. Hope you guys enjoyed! **

**Next up: The Council! Should I make both Harry and Lily attend, or just Harry? **

**Well, stay tuned for Chapter 9! Ciao! **


	9. The Council of Elrond

**A/N: There's really nothing for me to say here, only that you guys should read and review and enjoy! :) **

* * *

Lily helped Frodo walk down to the dining hall, where he was going to join everyone else in eating. Once they got there, Lord Elrond rose from his seat and went over to help Frodo sit down. Lily watched for a second, then went over to her seat next to Harry.

"Good to see he's awake," Harry commented, pointing with his fork over to Frodo.

"Yeah," Lily agreed.

Then Harry told Lily that Lord Elrond would be holding a council to decide what they should do with the Ring. Only Harry would be going, to represent himself and Lily, which Lily thought to be unfair.

She told this to Merry and Pippin the next morning, and they both agreed with her, saying that only Frodo would be attending out of the four hobbits. Suddenly, a smile grew on Pippin's face, and somehow, Lily didn't like it.

"What are you planning?" she asked Pippin.

"We can still attend," Pippin said. "They just don't have to see us."

And that is how that afternoon, Lily found herself eavesdropping on the council from behind an archway with Merry and Pippin.

* * *

The council was just beginning.

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old," Lily heard Lord Elrond say. "You have been summoned to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle Earth stands on the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall.

"Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."

Frodo got up from where he was seated next to Gandalf, and walked to the center of the semi-circle, where a pedestal lay. He placed the Ring on the pedestal, and made his way back to his seat, looking dazed.

Instantly, murmurs rose throughout the council. Lily was close enough to one man to say, "So it is true,"

Then the man stood up saying, "It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy! Let us use it against him!"

"You cannot wield it,"

Lily looked over and saw Strider sitting there, and Harry sitting to his right. Harry looked strangely uncomfortable.

"None of us can," Strider continued. "The Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master!"

The man smirked. "And what would a Ranger know of this matter?"

A blonde haired elf stood up. "This is no mere Ranger," he said. "He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

So that was Strider's real name? Aragorn?

"Aragorn?" the man repeated. "This is Isildur's heir?"

"And heir to the throne of Gondor!" the elf said defiantly.

Lily's eyes widened. Aragorn was a king?

"Havo dad, Legolas," Aragorn said. The elf reluctantly sat down.

The man turned back to Aragorn. "Gondor has no king," he spat. "Gondor needs no king."

He sat back down in his seat.

Gandalf spoke up. "Aragorn is correct. We cannot use it."

Lord Elrond stood up. "Then you have but one choice," he said. "The Ring must be destroyed."

Murmurs rose again. Then, a red-haired dwarf growled, "What are we waiting for?"

He took up an axe, and ran at the pedestal, screaming a battle cry as he slammed it down on the Ring.

There was a BANG, and the dwarf went flying away from the pedestal and landed flat on his back. Looking over, Lily saw Frodo wincing and clutching his forehead, as if he had a bad headache.

As everyone collected themselves, Lord Elrond spoke again.

"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor, and cast into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this."

There was silence.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor," the man from Gondor said grimly. "It's Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is an evil there that does not sleep. And the Great Eye is ever watchful."

Lily shivered, remembering how Mr. Ollivander had spoken with the same grim tone back in the wand shop.

"It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with 10,000 men could you do this. It is folly."

The elf stood up again. "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said?" he asked the man furiously. "The Ring must be destroyed!"

"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it?" the dwarf asked him just as furiously.

'I guess elves and dwarves don't like each other,' Lily thought.

"And if we fail, what then?" the man said, standing up. "What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?"

Now the dwarf stood up. "I would be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an elf!" he yelled.

Well, the dwarf said the magic words. The elves stood up, then the dwarves, and they all began to argue, shouting at each other. Lily heard the dwarf say over the din, "Never trust an elf!"

That made the men at the council stand up and start arguing with each other. Then to Lily's surprise, Gandalf stood up and began to argue with everyone too.

It was chaotic. Everyone was arguing with everyone else. Everyone except, Frodo, and Aragorn, and, Lily was pleased to see, Harry.

Frodo seemed to be thinking hard, staring at the Ring. Then he stood up, and said something. But everyone was too busy arguing to hear.

Finally, Lily saw Harry sigh, and point his wand at Gandalf's vacant chair. He whispered a spell that was inaudible over all the shouting.

And with an almighty BANG, the chair exploded. Lucky for the men, dwarves, and elves, the parts blew back into a small garden and didn't hit anyone. They stared at Harry in shock. Finally the man from Gondor seemed to have found his voice.

"A wizard?" he asked, and Lily heard a hint of amazement. Then his tone changed to cold fury. "You could have harmed any of us! How do we know you will not kill us all right now?"

Harry snorted, and Lily heard a form of authority in his voice, that probably came from him being Head of the Auror office at the Ministry as he retorted.

"Don't be stupid," he said, putting away his wand. "If I had wanted to kill you, you all wouldn't be here right now. But at the moment, I think Frodo has something to say?"

He turned to Frodo, who nodded, still looking at Harry in amazement, then Harry turned back to the others.

"So I would advise you all to shut up and hear what he has to say."

Then he sat back down in his chair and nodded encouragingly to Frodo. Frodo took a deep breath, and spoke.

"I will take the Ring to Mordor."

* * *

Lily wanted to shout, "WHAT?!" but Merry elbowed her and she stayed silent.

"Although," Frodo continued. "I do not know the way."

Gandalf came up to stand in front of him. "I will help you carry this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."

Aragorn came up next and knelt down on one knee. "If by life or death I may protect you, I will. You have my sword."

The blonde elf stepped up. "And you have my bow."

The dwarf came next. "And my axe."

It seemed to Lily that the elf looked mad about that.

To her surprise, the man from Gondor came forward.

"You carry the fate of us all, little one," he said. "If it is indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done."

Then to her shock, Sam popped out of the bushes, where he had obviously been listening. "Here! Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me," he said stubbornly.

"No indeed," Lord Elrond said to him. "It is hard to separate the two of you, even though he was invited to a secret council and you were not."

Next thing Lily knew, Merry and Pippin had rushed forward.

"Oi!" Pippin shouted. "We're coming too!"

"You'd have to send us home in a sack to stop us!" Merry said, just as stubbornly as Sam.

"Anyway," Pippin continued. "You need people of intelligence on this sort of mission... Quest... Thing."

"Well that rules you out, Pip,"

Then to Lily's shock (again), Harry came up to face Frodo. He smiled kindly at him, then said, "I offer you my service, Frodo."

Then he turned in Lily's direction, and said loudly, "And if I'm not mistaken, these hobbits aren't the only ones who want to help. Isn't that right, Lily?"

Everyone's heads turned in Lily's direction. In sudden shyness, Lily slowly stepped out of the shadow of the archway. Harry was looking at her in a combination of amusement, and something Lily didn't know of. Protectiveness, maybe? Most likely that.

"W-well," Lily stuttered. "I-I want to come too. I want to help."

The man looked furious, and he turned to Lord Elrond, saying, "My lord, I must protest! A child, accompanying us on this quest? She does not know how to fight and will only slow us down!"

Lord Elrond only stared at Lily in a mixture of surprise and curiosity. Harry said to the man, "I can teach her how to defend herself before we leave." He turned to Lord Elrond, saying, "Please allow her to come, my lord. She wants to help."

The elf lord didn't say anything, but only stared at Lily intently, making Lily feel like she was being x-rayed. The dwarf turned to Harry, asking, "This girl, can she do wizardry like yourself?"

Harry nodded. The dwarf stroked his beard, thinking hard, before finally saying, "She may come."

Lord Elrond finally spoke. "If you will be able to teach her offensive and defensive spells by the time you must leave, Mr. Potter, and if she is very determined to help, then I see no reason to leave her behind."

Harry smiled in relief, while the man just looked furious. Lily walked/ran over to the group and stood next to Harry, who put an arm around her shoulder. She also smiled gratefully at the dwarf for accepting her, and he looked a little stunned before smiling back.

Lord Elrond studied the group before him. "Eleven companions," he said. "So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!"

"Right," Pippin said happily. "Where are we going?"

* * *

**A/N: I can just imagine everyone looking at Pippin and be like, "Seriously?" :) **

**I was originally making Frodo refuse to have Lily come instead of Boromir, but then I decided that Boromir would want Lily to not come more than Frodo did. Bet he didn't like it when Elrond said Lily could come! **

**Stay tuned for the next chapter! **


	10. Hesitations

**A/N: Okay, I got a review asking why Harry didn't want Lily to stay in Rivendell while he went with the Fellowship. I was pretty confused about that myself, and that's the reason this chapter took a couple days. I was trying to figure out what Harry was going to do after the council. **

**This chapter is a result of my 'musings'. Enjoy, as it took me a while to write. **

* * *

In truth, Harry didn't exactly know why he was allowing Lily to come.

Looking back a couple hours after the council, Harry thought, 'What the hell was I thinking?'

He wasn't very proud of himself that he was allowing his eleven year old daughter come on a journey where she could possibly die. Of course, that was worst-case scenario, but if she actually did die, Ginny would kill him (not even hesitating to) and he would never forgive himself for it.

The day after the council was when Harry was supposed to start teaching Lily defensive and offensive spells to use when the Fellowship left Rivendell. Lily had already told him that she had used Arresto Momentum before they had arrived in Bree, which Harry thought was both amazing and weird.

Amazing because she knew a spell that Hermione hadn't learned until their sixth year, and weird because the wands of the first-years weren't supposed to reply so quickly to a spell like that.

Then again, Harry thought back to Mr. Ollivander in the wand shop.

_"It has never chosen any of the wizards who tried to wield it. Until now."_

The next day, Harry had taught Lily the spells Stupefy, Expelliarmus, Pertrificus Totalus, Confringo, and Protego. He had wondered for a while the day before if he should teach her Sectumsempra, but had decided not to until later (much later) in the future.

Lily looked very pleased with herself that she knew the spells. Harry was proud of her too, but his hesitation about letting Lily come only increased as she went over the spells by herself.

* * *

Finally a week later, when Harry was told by Aragorn that the Fellowship would leave in three days, he cracked.

Harry told Lily that he wanted to talk to her, alone. Lily looked confused as he led her away from the gardens (where he had interrupted a conversation between her and Bilbo Baggins) and into another one, where he was pleased to see that no one was there.

"Something wrong, Dad?" Lily asked as they sat down on a bench.

Feeling very awkward all of a sudden, Harry began.

"Lily, I don't want you to be mad at this, but I'm not really sure about you coming on this journey with the rest of the Fellowship."

Lily looked surprised and a little confused, but Harry was happy to see that she didn't look mad.

"Why not?" Lily asked. "I thought you said I could come, you said so at the council,"

"I know, but I wasn't thinking clearly at the council," Harry replied. "I know you want to help destroy this Ring, but I also want you to be safe. In fact, I think it would be better if you stayed here in Rivendell. You'll be safer here than anywhere else."

_Now_ Lily was starting to look mad.

"But I want to help!" she protested. "I can't help if I'm stuck in Rivendell!"

Although he knew it was pointless, Harry tried to calm her down.

"You want to help, I know that, but you also know a limited amount of spells, and there's also a chance you might get killed if you come."

"But what if Orcs attack Rivendell?" Lily demanded, half-shouting now. "And what if the elves can't hold them back long enough for me to escape? Did you ever consider that?"

Harry was speechless. He hadn't thought of that.

"And also this: what if you don't destroy the Ring? If you can't destroy the Ring, I won't be safe anywhere!"

Or that.

"Dad, I can't let other people take care of things forever! I want to do something to help Middle Earth because... because..."

"Because what?" Harry asked. Lily sat back down on the bench.

"Because it's my fault we're here in the first place!" she burst out.

Then she told him everything: about how she had accidentally made a wish on a shooting star, about how her wand had vibrated while she was hiding on Weathertop, and everything that had happened to her before they had met up in Bree.

"Since I'm here, I want to find a way back home, but I want to at least help to do something!" Lily concluded.

Once again, Harry was speechless. Lily's wand had caused them to be here? Her wand had made the Stunning Spell he had cast somehow ricochet and knock him out? Lily's wand had done all of that?

* * *

Lily was sure that even though she had told him everything, Harry was still going to make her stay in Rivendell. This had been her big chance to help, to actually do something, and now it was gone.

Still, she was still curious enough to ask Harry, "What am I supposed to do now?"

She half-hoped Harry would let her come, but she doubted it. The question somehow came out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying.

"Can I still come?"

'Idiot!' Lily scolded herself. 'That probably sounded selfish!'

But she received a surprise when Harry nodded.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that cleared up some stuff. Hope you guys liked chapter 10! **


	11. Amanya

**A/N: Hey, guys! **

**I am officially back from Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and as a sort-of welcome home present, I present Chapter Eleven for y'all! **

**I originally meant to post this before I left for Blue Lake, but I had some last minute packing to do and I couldn't post it. So enjoy! **

* * *

Lily stood in front of her bed, trying to decide what to pack. She had already packed the essentials: clothes, food, and a thing called a waterskin pouch, and was now trying to decide what else to pack.

She was, of course, taking her wand with her, but Gandalf had advised Lily and Harry to pack other weapons in case they weren't able to use their wands in a battle. So, Lily had asked Legolas if he could teach her archery along the way about an hour ago.

The reason Lily had picked archery was because Harry had advised her to.

"Your aim is good," he had said a few hours ago. "Archery is a way for you to practice your aim on Orcs, and other things we're going to meet on the road."

Legolas had had her try to shoot a target the second she asked, and they were both surprised to see that the arrow had landed about six inches from the target. Lily was surprised, because she had been unable to pull the bowstring back far enough.

Lily also decided to pack a knife she had found lying on the ground in a training area of Rivendell a few days ago. She had hidden it in her room so Harry wouldn't find it, and had decided to pack it along with her bow and quiver of arrows.

So, Lily packed her bow, arrows, and knife along with everything else. She hid the knife in her rucksack so Harry wouldn't find it.

That night, Lily went to bed feeling tired, at first. Then she began to feel restless, too restless to sleep. She couldn't get to sleep no matter what she did. Saying the alphabet backwards, counting sheep, everything she tried didn't make her tired enough to drift off.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps, then voices outside the door.

"We must tell her what we've found," one voice said. Lily recognized it as Gandalf's voice.

"Let's wait until morning to tell her," another voice replied. It was Harry's.

"But we must tell her about her wand," Gandalf protested.

"And we will," Harry replied assuringly. "But for now, let Lily sleep."

He looked into Lily's room through a crack in the doorway.

"For when we dream, we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let her swim in the deepest ocean, or glide over the highest cloud."*

* * *

The next day, Lily was shaken awake.

"What, what?" Lily asked groggily. She rubbed her eyes, and saw that Merry and Pippin had woken her up.

"Get up, Lily!" Merry said excitedly. "We're leaving after breakfast!"

Then they ran out of the room.

Lily yawned, stretched, and looked out at the sky beyond her balcony, wondering if she had been woken up just in time for breakfast by the two jokers.

The sun wasn't even up yet.

Now fully awake, Lily resisted yelling down the hall at them, "You didn't have to wake me up at the crack of dawn!"

Instead she dressed in a more simple dress for breakfast, and decided to go to the library to do some reading before everyone else woke up.

No one was in the library, though there was evidence that someone had been there.

There was an open book sitting on a music stand/podium, or whatever that was.

Curious, Lily walked over and saw that there was a picture on the page.

It was a stick, that had vine patterns twirling down it from a sort of handle. There was a caption that said: Fourteen and three quarter inch wand.

Lily realized with a jolt: it was a drawing of her wand.

She began to read the page the picture was on.

* * *

_Among the most powerful of the wands of old, the fourteen and three-quarter inch wand called Amanya, which is Quenya for blessed, is the most powerful. This wand has a core of the tail feather of a Phoenix, and made of wood from the ash tree. _

_Amanya was created by a successful wand maker who, by accident, made Amanya so powerful that no elf could wield it. The wand maker was knowledgable about the magic of old, and it is theoretical that he poured some of the ancient magic of the elves into Amanya. _

_However, during the end of the First Age of Middle Earth, one elf was able to wield it. His name was Eärendur Telemnar, an elf from a settlement that came to be the elves of Lothlorien. Eärendur was able to wield Amanya, which was considered to be incredible. _

_Unfortunately, Eärendur was unable to wield Amanya forever, as he was killed in the War of the Ring against Sauron the Deceiver. The wand, however, disappeared after the war and was never seen again. _

_Those who know the story of this legendary wand hold out hope that Amanya will return to Middle Earth once again at it's time of need. _

* * *

Lily was shocked. The book slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.

"My wand was made in Middle Earth?" she said aloud.

'This must've been what Gandalf wanted to tell me,' Lily thought.

Well, he didn't have to now.

* * *

Lily and Harry stood at the gates of Rivendell with the rest of the Fellowship.

Harry noticed Lily was standing rather stiffly next to him, and looking straight ahead at nothing in particular. She had sat the same way at breakfast, but she wouldn't look at him or at Gandalf. Gandalf had studied her, then a knowing look had come into his eyes. Harry didn't know what it meant, and Gandalf wouldn't answer him when he asked.

Lord Elrond's voice brought him back to attention.

"The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On you who travel with him, no oath... nor bond is laid to go further than you will."

His eyes flickered over to Harry and Lily. For a second, Harry thought he gave Lily a look of pity, but the next second he was talking again.

"Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of elves, Men, and Free Folk go with you."

"The Fellowship awaits the Ring-bearer," Gandalf said behind them.

Frodo turned, and slowly and hesitantly walked through the archway and out of Rivendell. Everyone else followed. Lily turned, and gave a watching Arwen a half-smile before walking away.

Harry heard Frodo whisper to Gandalf, "Mordor, Gandalf. Is it left or right?"

"Left."

* * *

**A/N: And, there you go!**

**So how did you guys like me explanation of Lily's wand? Cool, eh? **

**Anyhoo, please review! **


	12. The Crebain

**Hello and welcome to Chapter 12 of this story! **

**This will be in Lily's perspective, and it might be kind of short. Sorry. **

**On a different note, I now know the entire square root of pi! I won't write it out since it's a very long string of numbers. **

**I'm going to stop talking now, so enjoy! **

* * *

Even with the soft boots Arwen had leant her, Lily felt as if her feet were going to fall off if they didn't stop soon. Every time they stopped for what Harry and Lily both liked to call "bush breaks", Lily flopped down on a rock or tree stump or even the ground, and listened (or rather felt) her feet throb.

Lily respected Gandalf entirely, but she sometimes felt like Gandalf was underestimating her on this journey. She made a mental note to ask Harry if he could cast a Numbing Charm on her feet.

Luckily, she had things to distract her. The hobbits, mostly Merry and Pippin, told her about funny things that happened in the Shire, and in return Lily told them about memorable pranks James pulled on Albus. Harry sometimes provided details that Lily had forgotten. Frodo usually just smiled, and sometimes laughed.

Gimli was a very nice dwarf, once Lily had overcome his slightly-intimidating exterior. He had funny stories, and also some stories about dwarves battling Orcs and goblins and things. Once he was about to teach Lily an insult in Dwarvish, and she would've learned it if Harry hadn't jumped in right before Gimli told her what the insult meant in English.

Aragorn seemed to appreciate the fact that Lily wanted to know what it was like being a Ranger, and sometimes told her stories about his life abroad.

Legolas had plenty of tales to tell, and he seemed to find Lily's fascination in elves somewhat amusing, which reminded Lily all too much of the stupid tiny smiles from the elves in Rivendell.

Gandalf sometimes assisted Harry in teaching Lily defense moves, and sometimes he and Harry dueled. To Lily's surprise, Gandalf won almost every time, and Harry always lost, usually with a bump on his head from where he had been thrown to the ground by magic from Gandalf's staff.

The only person Lily didn't like very much in the Fellowship was Boromir.

He almost always had a critical thing to say about Lily's training in archery and in her spell-training, and sometimes said to Aragorn (in a stage-whisper when they were all sitting around a campfire) that Lily was waaaaay too young to be there. He also said that Harry was a powerful wizard that was allies with Sauron. Finally, Harry got so annoyed with the man from Gondor that he shot a Tongue-Tying Curse at Boromir.

One day, they stopped for a rest so Boromir could help Merry and Pippin with their swords. Lily flopped down on a rock, feeling her feet throb as she watched Sam build a fire, assisted by Harry.

Gandalf sat above her, smoking his pipe. At one point, Gimli sidled over and began to talk. Their voices drifted down to Lily's ears.

"If anyone was asking for my opinion, which I note they're not," Gimli was saying. "I'd say we were taking the long way around. Gandalf, we could pass through the mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome,"

Moria sounded a bit appealing. Maybe if they stopped there they would be able to get some more food for the journey.

Unfortunately...

"No, Gimli. I would not go through Moria if I had no other choice." Gandalf said.

Gimli mumbled something, probably a curse in Dwarvish, and walked away. He came down to sit next to Lily and pulled out his pipe.

"Keeping up, lass?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm all right," Lily replied. "It's just that I've never really walked this far before."

"Yes, it does take a toll on you the first time," Gimli said, puffing smoke-rings out of his pipe. "But you will eventually get used to walking. We dwarves are used to walking long distances."

Suddenly, they heard someone shout and turned.

Pippin had just kicked Boromir on the shin, making Boromir fall to the ground. Merry and Pippin jumped on him shouting, "Get him! For the Shire!"

The three of them wrestled on the ground. Aragorn got up to assist Boromir, but got kicked in the knees and crumpled to the ground.

Gimli chuckled, shaking his head, and Lily laughed.

That is, until they heard Sam say, "What's that?"

They turned around to see Sam pointing at a black... thing in the sky.

"Nothing," Gimli said. "Just a wisp of cloud."

Lily dismissed it as that as well.

Harry stood up from where he was by the small fire. "I wouldn't say that," he said. "That cloud... it's moving pretty fast."

"Against the wind," Boromir added.

Legolas jumped up on a rock, looked at it, and shouted, "Crebain from Dunland!"

"Hide!" Aragorn yelled.

Everyone immediately scrambled around. Lily grabbed her rucksack and helped Sam put out the fire and scatter the small twigs to make it seem as if they had never been there.

When Lily looked around for a hiding spot, she couldn't find any, until Harry shouted from a large bush, "Lily, hide here, quickly!"

Lily scrambled over, and hid in the bush just in time.

The Crebain turned out to be just normal crows. They flew over what was previously their campsite, circling around, then flying away.

Lily stared up at them from the bush, and suddenly felt Amanya vibrate within her traveling cloak. It began to vibrate stronger and stronger.

_"Let me fight,"_ it seemed to say. _"Let me take down at least one of those dreaded Crebain." _

'Not now,' Lily shot back.

The Crebain circled around one last time, then flew away. Harry and Lily stayed frozen in the bush for a second, then clambered out.

Harry said loudly that it was all clear, and the rest of the Fellowship climbed out of their hiding places.

"Spy of Saruman," Gandalf said, pulling himself up on a rock. "The passage south is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradharas."

He looked up at a mountain in the distance.

And as they trekked towards the mountain, Lily had a feeling that they weren't going to stop any time soon.

* * *

It was a long, slow climb.

Lily's teeth chattered, even though she had had a charm placed on her by Harry that would make her warm enough to stand the mountain. He had placed the same charm on everyone, actually.

Frodo walked along beside her, stumbling every now and then. He once threatened to fall and roll back down the mountain, but Lily caught him just in time.

Strangely, she felt metal when she grabbed his sleeve to stop him from falling. But not wanting to attract attention, she let go immediately.

A few hours later (estimated, because as I've said before, Lily had lost all sense of time by then), Frodo stumbled again. This time Lily was too slow to catch him, and he rolled down the mountain.

Harry whipped out his wand and stopped him just in time. Then he walked over to him through the snow, pulled him up, and brushed him off. Frodo's hand went up to his chest, then he began to frantically grope around the chest area of his shirt.

Then Lily heard crunching snow, turned around, and saw Boromir pick up a chain off the snow. And on the chain was a gold ring.

It was the One Ring.

Lily shivered, suddenly feeling colder, and watched, not by choice, Boromir's expression.

"It is a strange fate," he said finally, "that we should suffer so much fear and doubt, over so small a thing." His hand came up to graze the Ring. "Such a little thing."

"Boromir!"

Lily turned at the authority in Harry's voice, and saw him looking intently at Boromir.

"Give the Ring to Frodo," he said, not commanding, but asking either.

Boromir hesitated, then walked over to where Harry and Frodo were standing.

"As you wish," he said, holding out the chain. Frodo snatched it and put it around his neck.

"I care not," Boromir said. Then he chuckled, ruffled Frodo's curls, and walked away.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Aragorn's hand relax on the hilt of his sword.

She shivered again, and continued walking.


	13. Caradharas

**A/N: Okay, starting after this chapter is posted, I am not going to update this story until I get at least one review for this chapter. Why? Cause I'm starting to feel like I'm writing this story just so I can get it over with, and not so you guys can enjoy it. **

**So please, after you've read this chapter, write a review! Pretty please? **

* * *

After two days of climbing a freezing cold mountain of freezing cold snow, Lily was beginning to feel very numb.

The hobbits seemed to be feeling the same way, because they had all collapsed in the snow at some time during yesterday. Now they had to either be carried or supported when they had the strength to walk. Boromir usually carried or supported Merry and Pippin, while Aragorn and Harry carried or supported Sam and Frodo.

It seemed that Boromir was feeling guilty about what he had said about Lily and Harry, because he was now trying to at least see eye-to-eye with them. Sometimes he tried to strike up a conversation with Harry, or told Lily about Gondor. It made the trip up the mountain a bit more bearable.

Lily felt envy towards the hobbits. They got to be carried, while she had to trudge through the deep, wet snow. To add insult to injury, Legolas walked on top of the snow like he didn't weight anything at all. Gimli was constantly muttering things in Dwarvish in the elf's direction. Lily didn't know what he was saying, but she was pretty sure they were insults.

* * *

Around the middle of the day, they were met with a blizzard. Yet they kept trudging through the snow.

By now, Lily was sure she was going to go completely numb very soon. Her teeth were chattering harder than ever, her traveling cloak did almost nothing to keep her warm, and icicles were hanging from her hair. She had never felt as cold as she did right now in her life.

Suddenly, through the whistling wind, she heard Legolas shout, "There is a fell voice on the air!"

Lily strained her ears, and then she heard it.

A deep voice that was chanting something in another language, probably Elvish.

"IT'S SARUMAN!" Gandalf yelled.

Lightning struck the rocks above them, making a few fall down. Harry pushed Lily back against the rock before she got hit.

"He's trying to bring down the mountain!" Harry yelled to Gandalf.

"Gandalf! We must turn back!" Aragorn shouted.

Gandalf shook his head shouting, "No!"

Then he pushed Legolas aside and began to chant in another language.

Lily moved closer to Harry in fear, and he put an arm around her and pulled her closer. Confused, Lily looked up and saw a shocking thing: Harry was afraid too.

Meanwhile, Gandalf's chanting didn't seem to work. The storm seemed to blow harder now.

Suddenly, lightning struck again, and Lily looked up to see a huge mound of snow fall on top of them.

She had just enough time to scream, "DAD!" before being buried in the snow.

* * *

Lily lay under the surface of the snow in shock for a second. Then she noticed that it was getting harder to breathe with all the snow covering her. She began to wriggle around in the snow in the hopes of getting back to the surface, but was only able to force her hand out.

She was about to pass out from lack of air when she suddenly heard a shout.

"INCENDIO!"

Warmth began to pass through her, and the snow began to melt. It melted enough for her to be pulled out by someone. When she dazedly looked up, she saw Aragorn and Gimli working together to pull her out. She gasped for air and shook her head to clear it.

"Are you all right, lass?" Gimli asked in concern. Lily nodded.

She turned back to face the front, and saw Harry putting away his hand. He caught her eye and nodded. Lily nodded back, and he seemed satisfied.

Then Harry turned around and shouted to the front, "Gandalf! We have to get off the mountain!"

"We can make for the Gap of Rohan!" Boromir cut in. "And take the West Road to my city!"

"The Gap of Rohan takes us too close to Isengard!" Aragorn shouted back.

Lily began to shout herself. "Then what do we do?" she yelled.

"Let us not go over the mountain," Gimli shouted suddenly. "Let us go under it! Let us go through the mines of Moria!"

There was a pause as everyone mulled this over. To Lily, Moria sounded loads better than this stupid mountain.

Then Harry suddenly shouted, "Are you mad?! We can't go through Moria! We just can't!"

There was something in Harry's voice that Lily had never heard before. It was... fear?

"Enough!" Gandalf suddenly interrupted. "Let the Ringbearer decide."

They all turned to Frodo, who looked nervous at the attention.

Boromir decided at that moment to shout, "We cannot stay here! This will be the death of the hobbits, and Lily!"

Finally, Frodo made his decision. "We will go through the mines."

Gandalf looked like Frodo had just announced his death sentence. But he said, "So be it," and began to make his way back the way they came.

* * *

'Of all the suggestions Gimli could've made,' Harry thought furiously as they trekked back down the mountain, 'he just _had_ to pick Moria!'

Harry would never reveal it, but Gandalf had told him about Moria back in Rivendell before the Fellowship had left.

He had told him about the danger that lay in Moria.


	14. Author's Note VERY IMPORTANT

**Okay, I'm putting this story on hold until the end of July. As of late, my heart hasn't really been into this story. So I'm going to take a break from my stories for a while, until I get my groove back. Thank you. **


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